Hello You!
I hope this email finds you happy, healthy and enjoying the pace of summer. I've been all that and busy with planned and unplanned projects around the house, in the garden and in the studio.
We recently finished an unplanned kitchen update after a water leak. It was a great opportunity to purge those cupboards and the "junk drawer"! Lessons learned that crossed over into art-making were patience and the temporariness of things.
We also re-designed and replanted our backyard with low maintenance plants and stone walkways. We called it intuitive landscaping! We'd get a section done and let that inform the next section. Even more lessons here in constant change, letting things go and letting things grow!
In the studio I've been working on and completing a few new projects. Last month I shared with you my collection of paintings for Satori Collective, a boutique shop in Solana Beach.
At F1VEart Studio & Gallery we've welcomed a new artist, Melody Brown, creating in Ann's studio space while she's on her summer vacation. We all took part in the June & July ArtWalk Summer Series shows at Liberty Station, both were a success! My next two projects are a series of exclusive paintings for Leftbank Art (detail pic above) and new pieces for my next outdoor show, ArtWalk @ Liberty Station on August 5 & 6.
I'm loving the bright and cheery summer paintings coming from my studio. Left to right are Summer Love, a WIP on my studio wall and You're The Best Part of Me.
These paintings and many more to come are always a joy for me to paint. I am forever grateful for the time and space I carved into my life to allow my dream of being an artist come true.
I recently had two paintings sell within a few hours of each other that I painted years apart. That got me to thinking about the sense of wonder, curiosity and acceptance I feel during the creative process of each painting.
On the left is Love & Forgiveness. I painted this as part of a series inspired by my surroundings at my new art studio in Liberty Station back in 2021. Liberty Station is a decommissioned Naval Training Center that has been redesigned to include an Arts District (where my studio is). The grounds are beautiful and the original concrete buildings, barracks and command center are now part of the Arts District. Many restaurants, shops and artists' studios fill the spaces. I spent a bit of time each day exploring the area and the colors, shapes, views and atmosphere of this place inspired the whole series.
On the right is Connections in Conversation that I created last month as part of a different series of collage pieces inspired by a recent online art workshop I took. I worked with paper, fabric, paint, ink, charcoal, stamps and marble dust to create meaningful, introspective moments in time. An interesting story about this piece is some of the fabrics and painted papers I used were created years ago in an art workshop. During that workshop I met many wonderfully creative women from many different places. Last weekend, I brought this piece to my studio for our First Friday event and (without me knowing it) one of the friends I made at that workshop happened to be visiting San Diego, came to my show at the studio and bought this piece! We had definitely connected in conversation.
I'm delighted to see that over time I continue to give myself permission to explore and play in art-making. Allowing and accepting what comes as part of my creative process. Letting my art and my soul evolve.
"Art is a solitary act of letting the universe reach the most hidden corners of your soul - it is something truly sacred. You are honored with this gift, honored that the universe chose you as its recipient through which its current flows." - Sonya Girodon
Enjoy your summer and I hope to connect with you at my studio or one of my next outdoor art shows!
ArtWalk @ Liberty Station August 5 & 6
La Jolla Art & Wine Festival October 7 & 8
Paso Robles Art in the Park November 4 & 5
In gratitude,
Susie
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